BRUSSELS  Serbia’s ambassador to NATO suddenly jumped to his death off a parking garage platform at Brussels Airport while surrounded by his country’s delegation, a diplomat said Wednesday.

The Serbian government said in a statement that Branislav Milinkovic, 52, died Monday night, during two days of meetings of NATO foreign ministers.

Milinkovic was at the airport to meet Deputy Foreign Minister Zoran Vujic and other officials who were due to hold talks with NATO representatives, three diplomats who knew him said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release details.

After the delegation arrived, as they walked over to their cars in the diplomatic garage Milinkovic suddenly strolled to a barrier, climbed over it and jumped, one of the diplomats said.

Serbia is not a member of the military alliance, but has a mission in the headquarters complex because it belongs to NATO’s Partnership for Peace program, which groups neutral states.